The Social Media Guru

Last week, the following Youtube video quickly went viral on the internet and made people talking on several advertising and marketing related blogs and websites.

In this sarcastic video, titled ‘The Social Media Guru’, we see a woman engaging a social media expert in the hopes of making her business an instant success. The hilarious dialogue between the two of them mocks the overload of self-proclaimed social media gurus who recently jumped on the current social media hype without relevant knowledge of the subject, nor experience, only to make quick money on behalf of unknowing people.

Freelance journalist Markham Nolan is the creator of the video. On his website he mentions that he made it in only a couple of minutes using Xtranormal video blogging technology. Afterwards, he posted the video on Youtube and made a Tweet about it on his Twitter account. People started clicking and the video went viral, having 25000 views in only two days. In a blogpost, Nolan explains his views on social media and why he thinks the video became so popular so quickly:

A lot of people claim that they know this guy. There is no actual guy, hes an amalgam of a hundred different half-assed guru-wannabes I’ve encountered online and in real life. For every one good guy, there seems to be ten cowboys.

The way the video has taken off reiterates its core message. Social media is, for the most part, free and easy to use. If you’re creative with your message, and you can put something together that strikes a universal chord, there’s every chance it will take off and give you coverage beyond your wildest dreams. When everyone’s using the same media, the message becomes all-important.

There are some ‘tricks’ to using social media to best effect, for sure, but there’s no magic circle who own the secrets. For the most part, using social media is the same as anything else – quality makes its mark. Practice makes perfect. Produce the goods and people will take notice. Have faith in your own ability and be prepared to get it wrong before you get it right. (If you need another paragraph of motivational buzzwords call your local social media guru. Please have your credit card details ready.)